Understanding DISC

Contents

Understanding DISC is a comprehensive reference source for the DISC personality profiling system. Here, you'll find plenty of background about the theory, as well as practical features such as interpretations for common profiles.

Click the blue chapter headings here to jump to the different chapters within Understanding DISC. Click 'About Understanding DISC' for more information about using this Axiom electronic book.

The basic ideas behind the DISC profiling system reach back more than two thousand years. This chapter explains the history and development of DISC into its modern form, and explores the theoretical ideas that underpin the system.

Some DISC systems not only generate DISC profiles, but also use the theory underlying the technique to generate a Style Card to summarise a person's behaviour. This chapter looks at the way a Style Card is created, and how it can be used to its best effect.

Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Compliance are the key factors in the DISC system. This chapter explores their meanings in detail, and also examines the ways in which they interact to produce the twelve standard DISC subtraits.

One of the great advantages of DISC is that it produces recognizable 'shapes' representing different behavioural styles. In the 'DISC Profile Shapes' chapter, we examine the more common profile forms, and explain the kinds of behaviour you would expect to see from each.

Like any theoretical system, the effectiveness of DISC depends on the ways in which it is put into practice. This chapter discusses the more common applications of DISC, and suggests ways of making the most of the DISC system.